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Normandy Scholars Entry One

This is the first of four entries that I will be writing about my experience abroad in Europe for the Normandy Scholars Program. This entry will cover London and the ferry ride from London to Caen. The time spent in London was nice, I like the city and enjoyed getting to see the different monuments and museums that we visited. Riding the London Underground was also a very interesting experience. I will say, I am not a big fan of huge cities so I did not love the excess of people everywhere but I believe that to be comparable to any large US city. As far as accommodations went, the hotel was nice. Breakfast was great, it was a classic English spread. The rooms were rather small but at the same time it is a large city and space is limited. The welcome dinner was very enjoyable, I was able to get fish and chips which I knew I would have to experience at least once while in London. We were also blessed with warm weather for the time we were there which was a relief if not also slightly surprising. Our guide, David, was a great host and helped show us some awesome stuff while we were there. From London, we went to the overnight Ferry to Caen. I am very tired today writing this due to the lack of sleep on the ferry, but other than that it wasn’t bad at all. The cabins were small and cramped but we each had our own bed so I can’t complain. The issue was that we didn’t board until 11pm, and then didn’t end up in bed until around 12. The wake up call was at 5am. The roughly 5 hours of sleep combined with the residual Jet lag has combined for a very exhausted feeling to come over me. That being said, the ferry was an interesting experience and I enjoyed it. From the ferry, we were transported to our hotel, Novotel. This hotel is amazing; the breakfast was once again superb and the rooms are large and modern. In comparison to London, this place blows it out of the water. After writing this, I will be going to visit the Castle that is in town as well as some churches. We were at a museum earlier which was very very enjoyable. I love getting to explore museums, especially at my own pace. Overall, the first leg of the trip has flown by, but been very enjoyable as well.